Archive for October, 2004
work busy
work busy. going to champaign this weekend. might be leaving friday after lori’s going away party – would get there at 11pm or 12am. if not, i’ll leave saturday morning. halloween party saturday night in champaign. home on sunday. maybe doing a small halloween party at my house sunday night (more likely to happen if i leave on friday night).
Feeling: busy
Listening to: busy-ness, business.
2 comments October 28, 2004
Tuesday
Well, it’s Tuesday. There isn’t much to report. I think my goal from now on will be posting every other day, since there usually isn’t enough that happens in one day to make posting a good idea.
There’s a furniture liquidation sale at a warehouse across the street from All Tile. I went over there yesterday, and the prices are incredible. Not only do they have furniture, but they have lamps and kitchen stuff as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people were purchasing that stuff for the express purpose of reselling it. In fact, some guy bought all of their (possibly a thousand) mattresses; I’m sure he’s planning on reselling all of them. I went to bed at 9:30 last night.
Today I learned all about Congoleum pricing. In short, it’s terribly difficult. Congoleum is a manufacturer. We purchase flooring from them and distribute it to retailers. Congoleum tells us to give certain retailers (about 1,500 of them) special prices (about 5-20 of them, depending on the product line). All of this, currently, is done MANUALLY. Thankfully, they had a price increase starting November 1st that is done already. Hopefully the next time a price increase comes around, I can find a better way of doing it.
I finally got to talk to Alan on the phone today. He hadn’t had the time to talk to me since Wednesday or so, which was awful, because he and I are very busy during the week, so the weekends are usually when we have the most time to talk. At least I’ll be going to Champaign this weekend to visit him. I’m thinking of leaving late (like 8 or 9) on Friday night. Last time when I visited, it seemed very truncated.
I’ve been playing this computer game I got at Menards (yes, Menards) for $3. It’s called Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball. It’s pretty hokey (but for $3, I expected no less), but the game play isn’t bad. It makes me feel like I haven’t completely forgoten about volleyball and like I’m not completely out of practice on it (although I’m sure I haven’t played in a year or so). I miss being physically active in something I like.
I made mashed potatoes today for (kind of after) dinner. I’m glad I am finally learning how to make things that I like to eat – the way I like to eat them, even. Maybe the next thing I’ll find a recipe for is italian beef sandwiches. Those can be very yummy. They used to be my favorite food.
Feeling: Rested, but It’s almost my bedtime.
Listening to: R.E.M. – The Lion Sleeps Tonight
October 26, 2004
Huzzahs to Alan & Co.
Alan and his friends got second place in Puzzlehack. Good job guys!
Friday at work I did a lot of stuff that I wasn’t particularly crazy about. Part of it was that none of what I did was expected. Since it’s Friday, I expected to be doing spiffs, but we didn’t. I don’t know why Lori didn’t work on them with me or anything, but I think she blamed it on me not having a printer. I don’t really get it, but whatever.
Today I woke up way too early. I started on Leela’s eye (since the boots, communicator and wig are completed), and it’s going pretty well. I’ll work on it some more during the Bears game tomorrow.
Jen and Nicole came by and we went to Applebees for dinner. Jen and I taught Nicole how to crochet, and she started on a scarf. She’s really excited about it, because now she has something to do on the train to work. After that we went to Fridays and saw Renee, Michelle & Kelly. We caught the end of the Red Sox/Cardinals game (go Red Sox, it’s so nice that they’re finally winning). After that we went home. I am tired so I’m going to bed.
Feeling: Worn Out.
Listening to: My Fish
October 24, 2004
Happy Birthday, John.
This is what happend to our CFO on his birthday at All Tile. The warehouse guys (6 or 7 of them) tackled him and used celophane and tape to attach him to his chair. They then wheeled him out into the warehouse, where I chased them down to take the first of those two pictures with my camera in my phone.
Yesterday nothing of this caliber happened. I worked, I went home. Today, I worked and went home as well, but I was much more productive. While yesterday I went to bed at midnight, today it’s only 9pm and I’ve completed most of my to do list.
All I’ve got to say is way to go Red Sox.
Feeling: Tired
Listening to: The Zone (94.7 FM Chicago)
October 21, 2004
Stewie is Happy
After cleaning his water (and destroying his bubble nest) yesterday, Stewie has a decent bubble nest today. He likes making his a lot thicker than Brian does. At least I know that he’s happy. He’s such a little fish, still. I hope he’s growing.
Lori called in sick to work today, so I was working for Marc all day. Some of the stuff I did was fun, like flyers and such, but at the end of the day I was stuck doing mailings (which is much different – mailings means we need to develop a mailing list and upload stuff). I guess that’s how it is, no job is all good.
I received a letter in the mail today from Home Depot that congratulating me on newly owning my parents’ house. Mind you, no deeds exchanged hands, so I’m thinking my bank gave out my information incorrectly. In any event, they sent me a helluva lot of home improvement related coupons. Our home could definitely use some of that aforementioned improvement, so I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Hopefully, we’ll have new locks this weekend, and maybe even more later on. We needed something like this to kick us in the ass about getting more home stuff done. You know it’s bad when your best friend considers sending your house in to those reality home makeover shows. If I’m gonna be living here for a while longer, it will really be necessary.
Feeling: Hopeful
Listening to: Mariah Carey – Miss You Most at Christmastime (Sorry, I know it’s only October)
October 19, 2004
I Love my Job
I came in to work today in spite of feeling like I had the stomach flu last night. I did all I could to take it easy before I showed up, so when I got there I felt okay. I only got nauseated once, and it wasn’t that strong. Lori, on the other hand, went home sick with a cold today just before lunch. Because of this, I got to do stuff for Marc. This included the layouts of flyers and such. The stuff that isn’t creative (number crunching) is making a sizeable section in my planner. I have outlined instructions for most of the stuff that I’ll need to do. It makes me feel good to have these things planned out in such a manner, and it gives me something productive to do so I don’t have to bug anybody with stuff to do. Huzzah.
My goal is to get to sleep around 7pm today. Alan’s busy puzzlehacking, I think, so at least he’ll be entertained for the duration of the night, if nothing else. If anybody ever wants to reach me, I can’t, at this point, name an appropriate channel. I check my email at lunch and when I get home, but that’s about it. Good luck getting ahold of me during the next week or so. But that means I can sleep!
Feeling: Tired, Dry Air Makes my Nose Hurt.
Listening to: Slipknot – Duality
October 18, 2004
Champaign Visit v11.0
Visiting Alan in Champaign this weekend was mostly nice. On Saturday, however, he wasn’t awake when I called (being an hour away). So, I asked him to wake up and take a shower before I got there. I called again at 1:30 when I was a block away – he had fallen asleep right after I called him. So, when I got there, I waited for him to shower and then we went to Chili’s. After Chili’s, we went to Schnucks (since the game just let out and we didn’t want to get caught in traffic going to Meijer. Then we had our lovely dinner. It was very nice. We watched Meet the Parents and then fell asleep.
Sunday we woke up at around 1, and Alan made pancakes. After that we went to the mall (because he promised!) and he got me my presents for our 2.5 year semi-anniversary. He got me a pretty laser-etched glass cube (it’s a rose) and a neoprene basket-like thing for my car that clips to the air vents. I got him a shirt, and I’m going to order him a flask online. After that we saw Team America: World Police. It was weird and mostly stupid, but I did laugh a few times. Really, though, how many times can you laugh at those sorts of jokes?
Now I have a really bad headache and I need to go to bed so I can wake up tomorrow morning. I have so much to do though, sigh.
Feeling: Splitting Headache
Listening to: Norah Jones
October 17, 2004
Friday.
Work really dragged. Most of what I did with Lori was repetitive, and almost everyone went home early. When I got home, I found out that I got my Leela wig in the mail, but the package didn’t include the sparking ray gun I bought. So, yet again, online retailers mess up my order. First it was Frederick’s of Hollywood. Then it was eCost.com. Now it’s BuyCostumes.com. As far as I’m concerned, they can all drink my fish’s water. I have to call them tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, I’m going to Champaign, planning to be there around noon or one. After that, Alan and I will go grocery shopping, then make dinner. I’m supposed to make that cheesecake, but I was thinking about going to sleep already. Dammit. Stupid things to do interfering with my leisure time.
Feeling: Busy
Listening to: Josie & the Pussycats Soundtrack
October 15, 2004
Damn you Clock
I’m still having a helluva time falling asleep at or before 12, as you can see. Today I went off AIM early and I ordered the wig cap I need for my Leela costume. I talked to Jen and Renee a little, and then I took my stuff from All Tile and started trying to organize what I’d learned about three different sections of the job. It’s so hard to do that because we need to do so many different things during the day that by the end of the day they all sort of jumble up in my head. Lori bought me a Cappuccino Blast from Dunkin Donuts, which is essentially cold coffee with ice cream in it. If you need coffee in the morning and your taste buds are awake, this is something to try. It is very good.
I really need to get to sleep. For those of you who are concerned about my weekend, here’s the short and sweet version. Alan invited me to Champaign this weekend. We were going to go to a restaurant but it turns out this Saturday is Sweetest Day as well as Illinois versus Michigan in football. That means there will be no openings at any of the restaurants I’d be interested in going to for a celebration. We opted to make a nice dinner in, composed of Chicken Dijon with mashed potatoes, green beans and wine (particularly Beringer 2001 White Cabernet Sauvignon, which is supposed to be very high quality). Add candles and a cheesecake with cherries for dessert (I’m making that at home tomorrow), and we’ve got something that’s better than most restaurants, so long as Alan’s roommates aren’t planning on being in the kitchen.
Feeling: Tense and Tired
Listening to: I really gotta bring a radio to work once I get more independent.
1 comment October 15, 2004
Coffee is Evil
…but it’s one of those necessary evils. It’s one of those things that’s so good and so bad for you that it is evil. I got 6 hours of sleep last night, so this morning I was completely drained. After a meeting with Marc that I almost fell asleep in, Lori introduced me to coffee. I immediately felt like I had taken some sort of happy pill.
Lori was proud and said that if she had another two months, she’d have me smoking. That I seriously doubt, because while I have always believed coffee is evil, it serves a purpose that I truly need filled – being awake after sleeping 6 hours and taking a Benadryl in the morning. Cigarettes may be relaxing (and diet supressing), but I’ve been working on relaxation methods that do not involve anything other than my head and my training from theater classes. It’s more important for me to be able to relax myself without anyone or anything’s help than for me to smoke and ultimately become more tense from the withdrawl.
After the coffee, the day flew by. I’m doing stuff that is interesting, and it’s important for me to absorb everything that’s going on. I’ve hardly been sitting at my desk at all, so I haven’t had much time to be online at work (not that many of you would message me during then anyway). I do have a work phone, which is awesome, and a direct line, which is awesomer. I was going to take a picture of where I sit, but I can’t find my digital camera. I’ll do it eventually.
I talked to Alan on the phone today, and it was one of the bad ones. It’s the same old problem. I didn’t cry as hard as I have, but we did talk about really serious stuff. He insisted that I come down to Champaign this weekend instead of next weekend (as the pattern would indicate). He wants to go to the mall and buy each other our 2.5 year semi-anniversary presents, then go to Miko’s or some very nice restaurant. That would mean I would stay home for the weekend of the 22nd and be in Champaign for the Halloween party on the 30th.
Feeling: Exhausted
Listening to: Music? What’s music?
October 13, 2004
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